Points of Authority
by Red Warrior
Summary: “You have no idea how bad life here got after Rembrandt’s death, Locke”


Inspired by _Points of Authority, _by _Linkin Park. _

**Points of Authority**

**Chapter One: Game On**

Locke the Echidna sighed in relief when the bell rang, announcing the lesson was over. He quickly gathered his books and stuffed them in his bag carelessly, not stopping to see which page they had been working on. He slung his bag over his shoulder, already getting up and out of the cursed Philosophy classroom.

_Why did I take that damned subject in the first place? _Locke inwardly growled as he finally stepped out of the room before his comrades. There certainly was a good reason as to why he had taken the subject, but the last painful two hours succeded in making him forget it. The Guardian shook his head to clear it of the meaningless things he had been hearing for the last one hundred and twenty minutes, taking his schedule out to see what class he had to intend to. His fourth year at University in Echidnaopolis only started two weeks ago, after all, he didn't know his schedule by heart.

Locke grinned. _Chemistry. At least something worth being here. _He put the sheet of paper back in his bag and stuffed a hand in his pocket, calmly walking through the crowd of students that was pouring in the hall. Young echidnas were happily chatting about the last movie they had seen, friends were exchanging notes and homework, or heading out to eat. Locke, in his four years spent in the campus, hadn't had one single friend. Not that he was asking for one; he was perfectly happy being off alone and focused on his work, and nothing else. He didn't want his grandfathers to know he was happy at Echidnaopolis, or else they would make him come back to Haven immediately.

Locke finally reached the stairs, sighing. True, things weren't going well at Haven. Ever since Rembrandt passed away, about a month before Locke left for University, Mathias and Hawking had been giving the Brotherhood hell. Tobor had been missing for months, and Locke would have been only half-surprised to learn his grandfather's departure was due to Mathias being in charge. Athair had left too, only visiting now and then to see his mother and Sabre, Locke's father. Spectre had chosen to live up to his name and lurk away; his grandsons hardly ever walked past him in a corridor anymore, Thunderhawk had said last time, and they didn't worry if they didn't hear of him for a week. The lavender echidna was also having a hard time protecting his grandons and granddaughter, seeing as Spectre wasn't around most of the time. He bore bruises to prove it.

_And here I am, worrying over my next philosophy test, _Locke thought bitterly. He began climbing up the stairs, his eyes downcast as he lost himself in thoughts. _I should be thankful. _

The young red echidna smiled when he remembered how Sabre had gotten him out of the mess Haven had become by playing Mathias' game. He had convinced the elder the females nowadays couldn't stand uncultured males, and if Locke didn't study for a few years he would stay single for the rest of his life. With no child. No next Guardian. The downfall of the Brotherhood would ensue.

At the word _downfall, _Mathias' ears had perked up. He immediately declared Locke was to go to University, whether he liked it or not. He hadn't noticed Sabre's sigh of relief; the brown one hadn't thought his ancestor would buy his lie so easily. Locke's father had led his son to Echidnaopolis, explaining how he would be better off at University than at Haven by far, but Locke was still shocked and didn't grasp a thing Sabre was saying.

"Don't worry, son," the one-eyed echidna had said simply, patting Locke's shoulder. "You'll be fine there, and by the time you come home, things will be fine. Remember we love you, Locke."

_Yeah, that was four years ago, _Locke told himself. _And things haven't improved, on the contrary they are worse now than they were three years ago. _

He was so lost in thoughts that he didn't saw the heavy double door opening before he crashed against it full force; he gave off a yelp of surprise as his hand flew to his bruised nose and forehead, his eyes closing in pain.

The person who had opened the door into his face came out and Locke heard a gasp. "Oh, I'm sorry!" a light and incredibly concerned voice said. "I-I didn't see you coming! I'm so careless, I'm sorry!"

Locke rubbed his nose somemore and finally opened his eyes to see his "attacker". He was surprised to see a brown-furred female standing here, with dark long hair and bright green eyes wide with concern. She was wearing blue pants and a long-sleeved red shirt that fit her nicely, as well as cream-colored stripes on two spines. She was apparently younger than he was.

The Guardian realized he had been staring when she spoke up again, worried even more by the silence. "A-Are you all right?"

He shook himself. "I'm fine, don't worry," he answered politely, although he felt dizzy from the hit. Locke rubbed his forehead once again for good measure and managed a small smile. "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going, anyway."

"No, it's my fault," the girl immediately said. "I was walking too fast, I knew it."

Locke felt like he had to learn more. "Why were you walking fast? Was someone following you or something?"

The female shook her head, nervously fidgeting with the book she was holding. "No, of course not! In fact, I... I'm lost. We changed classrooms with other students. I don't know where my classroom is, and I was afraid I would be late."

"Don't worry, I'll help you," Locke said before he even thought about it. "What subject is it?"

"Chemistry," the girl answered uneasily.

Locke gave her the warmest smile he ever gave anyone for three years. "All Chemistry classrooms are on the second floor," he said. "I have Chemistry too, I can show you the way."

The girl's eyes lit up, and when she smiled Locke could have sworn he was warming up from the inside. "That would be very kind," she said gratefully. "Thanks."

"No problem," Locke assured her, and they started walking. "By the way, my name is Locke, what's yours?"

"I'm Lara-Le," she answered, now more relaxed. Locke inwardly did a double take; this was the first time someone didn't remind him of his title when they heard his name. "Thank you again, Locke, I couldn't affort to miss this lesson. I have a test on Monday, but anyway I don't think I'll pass." She sighed.

"Why that?" Locke asked curiously.

"I never understood Chemistry, nor Maths for that matter. I try but I don't get it, but I'll have to. I want to be a pharmacist."

They politely chatted all the way to the classrooms, and Locke learnt she was in her first year at University, and thus was three years younger than him.

Lara stopped. "I see my professor," she said, motionning to a tall and thin dark yellow echidna with glasses.

Locke smiled. "Dr. Zemith? You are a lucky one, he is one of the best professors here. Maybe the best Chemistry teacher."

Lara laughed a little. "Well, best or not, I still don't understand a thing! My case must be hopeless." She looked at Locke and smiled. "Thank you, and sorry for the bump."

"That was nothing," the Guardian told her. "I won't hold a grudge against you, unless you did it on purpose. Then fear my wrath," he joked and she laughed. He was slowly getting addicted to her laugh, and didn't want them to part so soon.

"Well, good lesson," she said as she began to walk to her classroom.

"Meet me for lunch?" he blurted out on impulse.

Locke almost slapped himself; how could she accept that offer, they've known each other for ten minutes, for Chaos' sake! There was no way she would say...

"Yes, why not," she answered with a gentle smile, and that surprised him. "Let's meet at the cafeteria in one hour, okay?"

He could only nod. "I can't wait."

* * *

"What do you mean, no friends?" Locke repeated as he took a bite of his sandwich, which served to soothe his growling stomach, but not his curious mind. He looked at Lara-Le, who was sitting across from him at a small table, in the school's cafeteria.

The brown-furred female picked at her salad randomly. "Well yes, I know nobody here, I only arrived two weeks ago in this part of Echidnaopolis. My parents still live out of Echidnaopolis, in a cottage, but I had to move here, in the campus. It feels weird knowing nobody here," she added with a slightly nervous smile.

"Well, you met me, so you don't know nobody anymore." Locke did his best to give her a reassuring smile. Inwardly, he wondered how such a pretty and nice girl could be alone, without any friends, even after only two weeks at school. But after all, he _did _go three years without any friends, and he was still alive although he felt now was the right time to change that. "I'd gladly accept to be your first friend here, should you agree to be mine."

Lara's eyebrows raised. "What? But didn't you tell me that this is your fourth year here?"

Locke nodded. "I did, but I never had any friends. I'm not a very sociable guy, I got used to being some kind of loner; but I admit this is getting old. I could use someone to talk to besides the teachers," he smiled.

The red echidna was startled when Lara caught his hand in hers and gave it a slight squeeze. "Well then, let's be friends!" she said cheerfully. "I'm lucky I found someone so kind so soon."

"So... am I," Locke managed to blurt out. He didn't know why yet, but her hand on his, her soft fur brushing against his dense one, all this felt right. Her soothing voice too. He suddenly decided he needed to hear her voice. "So, how did it go? Your Chemistry lesson, I mean."

Locke nearly protested when she drew her hand back from his, but he figured she needed it to eat. "Well, you were right about one thing, Dr. Zemith really is a sweet man and a great teacher. One of the best teachers I met, actually, but I'm afraid I still don't get a thing."

When he saw her worried face, Locke once again spoke before he thought. "Speaking of that, I can help you study for the upcoming test, and with your lessons as well if you wish."

Lara looked up at him and smiled. "It's very kind of you, Locke, but I am sure you have enough work as it is, being a fourth year, and I wouldn't want to bother."

"Nonsense. I have so much free time I built a computer, actually," Locke told her, throwing his napkin in the nearest dustbin. "And besides, someone once said that was friends were for."

Lara smiled warmly at him. "Well, in that case, I would appreciate it. Why not this week-end?"

"As you wish," Locke agreed. He got up and took hold of his bag. "Up for a walk around the campus before class start?"

"You bet," she grinned, getting up and walking next to him out of the cafeteria.

* * *

Sabre the Echidna knew there was no way he would get away this time. He had been able to fool Mathias and Hawking for four years – well Hawking he wasn't sure, but the scientist always followed his father no matter what – but now, he wasn't safe, nor was his son.

The brown-furred echidna tried to bottle his fright up as he walked toward the conference room, from where Mathias had called him over the mental bond Guardians shared. Sabre had clearly felt the barely-contained impatience and anger in his ancestor's mental voice, and right away guessed the game he had been playing for four years was over. From the moment Locke had left for University, Sabre had been dreading this day, the day he would have to come clean with his actions.

_Maybe I'm wrong, _he thought. _Maybe he wants to talk about something else. _Whatever it was Mathias wanted to see him for, Sabre knew he was in for something painful, given the tone his ancestor had used. He readied himself mentally when the conference came into sight, but wasn't completely shielded when the first blow fell.

Sabre gagged as a hand, which had shot up the second he went through the door, caught him by the throat and pinned him against the wall. He choked as the hand squeezed his windpipe painfully, and when he tried to move he realized his feet no longer were on the floor.

When he finally was able to open the eyes he didn't know he had closed, Sabre wasn't surprised to find his eight-father, Mathias, holding him against the wall. As ever, the brown echidna's eyes were closed, giving him a strange look, but ever since an accident that made him blind Mathias had never opened his eyes. His inability to see only served to increase his Chaos abilities, that were already amazingly powerful, to the point where he was able to see better with his mind than with his eyes, not only making out colors and shapes, but also sensing and _seeing _fear, lies and many other things.

Mathias' free orange-gloved hand was casually holding his staff, and Sabre had a feeling the brown wood would soon turn red. _I just wish it wasn't my blood coating it, but his_. Sabre gasped when the gloved hand gave his windpipe a hard squeeze.

"Too bad then, grandson," Mathias said softly, and Sabre shuddered when he realized his eight-father had read his mind. He quickly shielded his thoughts, but wasn't able to completely close his mind because of his lack of oxygen. His sight was slowly fogging, and he had to focus on the black crescent on Mathias' forehead to make his eyes stay still. "I have a few questions, Sabre," Mathias pursued in an all-too calm voice. "And I'm afraid I won't let you go until I get the answers I want."

"I-I don't see what you mean, Grandfather," Sabre choked, both of his hands grasping Mathias' one in a futile attempt to loosen his deathly grip. Sabre panicked when his ancestor tightened his hold, fearing he wouldn't get enough air, and began trashing around a little. "P-Please let go, Grandfather! I can't breathe!"

"It has been four years, Sabre," was Mathias' only answer. "Locke still hasn't come back, Sabre. I'm beginning to think you were trying to fool me, please kindly tell me I'm wrong."

"F-fool you, Grandfather?" Sabre rasped, now getting frantic. It felt like his lungs were on fire now, and would burst at any moment. If he wasn't allowed some air right now, he would faint.

"Don't play dumb with me, Sabre, I can see you are faking," Mathias growled. "It has been four years, and your son still isn't back. The next Guardian still isn't born. I'm losing patience, Sabre." To illustrate his point, Mathias tightened a little his grasp on his grandson's throat, making the younger echidna gag and cough.

"He... he's trying," Sabre rasped out, although it came out as a whisper. "Give him... time..."

"Wrong answer," Hawking's voice piped in from the other side of the room. Sabre's eyes went to him; he hadn't noticed the echidna who was sitting in his wheel-chair was here as well. Hawking waved at him, grinning; he apparently was amused by the situation.

Sabre wasn't allowed time to think about it. Mathias' hand that was around his neck threw him away, and the young brown-furred echidna's skull hit the table of the conference room with a sickening sound. Sabre saw white spots dancing before his eyes, and he would have fallen to the floor if it wasn't for Mathias' wooden staff, which hit his stomach and sent him backward against the table. Three chairs were sent to the ground from the impact, and one fell on Sabre who didn't find the strenght to push it away.

The one-eyed echidna just lay there, panting as he tried to catch his breath and get his lungs to work again. He felt Mathias' staff colliding with the side of his face before he saw it, and this time ended up sprawled on his stomach on the floor. His monocle was cracked, and Sabre feared some pieces of glass would get in his blind eye.

"Second chance, Sabre," Mathias said, standing in front of his grandson, who could only see his booted feet and the golden hem of his dark purple robes. "When will Locke be coming back?"

Sabre couldn't have spoken even if he wanted to. His burnt throat wouldn't let him utter a sound, and he could do nothing but pant. Mathias mistook his pain for defiance, and growled in anger. This time his thick staff hit Sabre's shoulder and sent him rolling on his side; his monocle finally came off and smashed to tiny pieces on the floor.

Mathias rammed his staff into Sabre's stomach, then brutally smashed his jaw. Blood came flying out of Sabre's mouth, as the echidna still gagged and coughed. When he felt a small rivulet of blood trailing down his skull, the young echidna realized a piece of glass must have cut his forehead. His insides screamed; if Mathias ever hit him again in the stomach, he would spit his lungs out.

The physically blind echidna came to stand next to Sabre, and he glanced down at him angrily. Sabre curled up into a tight ball in case Mathias decided to strike again, but to his amazement his ancestor smiled. "Don't worry, Sabre, I'm not going to hit you again. In fact, I feel kind today. We are going to strike a deal." Mathias looked up and grinned in a sick way upon seeing the pieces of glass scattered two feet away from his grandson.

Sabre wondered what Mathias was looking at, and what could possibly make him grin in such a way. He nearly jumped when Mathias put his feet on his shoulder and pushed. Sabre slid backward for about a feet on the hard metallic floor, and panicked when he saw the sick look Mathias' face was showing. With a last shove, Sabre rolled onto his back.

The brown-furred echidna gritted his teeth when he felt the tiny pieces of glass tear through the fabric of his blue tunics and embed themselves in his flesh. His breath caught in his chest as he tried to stay still so the wounds wouldn't be so bad, but finally uttered a muffled cry of pain when Mathias put a foot on his chest and pushed down. Sabre felt blood pooling on the floor under his back, and he began to feel light-headed.

"Two months, Sabre," he heard Mathias say. "In two months Locke will be twenty-one. If he hasn't found a wife by then, I will personally bring him back here." Sabre heaved a sigh of relief when Mathias drew his foot back and walked out of the conference room with Hawking in tow.

Sabre only had time to hope someone would find him soon before darkness took him.

* * *

"Grandfather, you can't pretend nothing is happening!" Janelle-Li the Echidna said as she grabbed Spectre's arm.

Finally she had found him, in a bare room the Brotherhood had no use for. She had spent the entire day searching for her hiding third-father; she wanted a serious talk with him. Only Spectre had enough power over the Brotherhood to change things, but he didn't agree to that.

Spectre sighed, doing nothing to retrieve his arm from Janelle's hands. After all, she had been looking for him all day, she deserved he at least listened to what she had to say.

The black echidna turned around to face his granddaughter. The pink-furred echidna had a determined look upon her face, but she was still beautiful. She pushed her blond hair out of her face so she could properly look at Spectre. "You can't stand aside!" she pleaded. "Please, Grandfather! We have to do something!"

"I can't, Janelle," Spectre replied quietly. "I'm not the official leader, I cannot take so drastic decisions-"

"Don't give me that, Third-father!" she cut him off, squeezing his arm firmly albeit not painfully. "Since when do you go by the rules, anyway? You have never been one to follow them! What is the real reason you won't intervene?"

Spectre stayed silent. Nobody had to know, he wouldn't tell. He wouldn't tell why he was protecting his grandchildren but never personally went against Hawking and Mathias. He saw Janelle glaring at him and turned away. "Please, Janelle, leave me be."

"No I won't! I can't pretend things are fine, Grandfather! Second-father just got out of the infirmary this morning, but you don't care about that, do you? You don't care if your own son was nearly telekinetically strangled to death. And you don't care if Father's neck was almost snapped last week when Mathias wanted to have fun." Spectre saw tears prickling in Janelle's eyes as she spoke. "Who knows what they might do next! We can't allow this to continue, one day someone will die, Grandfather!"

Spectre jumped when Janelle put her arms around him and squeezed. She buried her head against his chest before she broke down into sobs, and Spectre froze. He had never seen her cry like this, at least she hadn't in front of him. Janelle was trembling and Spectre hesitantly put his arms around her smaller frame, holding her in an awkward embrace.

"I don't want anyone to die," she sobbed, hiding her face in his dark robes.

"Nobody will die as long as I have something to say about it," he whispered, trying to soothe his third-daughter. When he saw his words were calming Janelle down, he began rubbing her back to comfort her. "Nobody will die, Janelle, don't worry. You have my word."

Just as Janelle's sobbing was reduced to an occasional sniffle, a voice was heard.

"You two should get a room, young and innocent minds could see you."

Spectre's head shot up when a dark laugh followed that sentence, and his eyes narrowed when he saw a grinning Mathias a few feet away, as always followed by Hawking. Instead of letting go of Janelle, Spectre squeezed her against him a bit more as if he was trying to shield her. Mathias' grin faded. "Oh, so you are serious? Would it be possible to join in the fun?"

Spectre felt Janelle stiffen in his arms, but he replied before she could. "Thank you, we don't need anybody else, but if that is ever the case we will call you."

Mathias frowned. "Careful with your tongue, boy. We could cut it off as well."

_As well? _Janelle looked up at Spectre, and found him glaring hatefully at his third-father. _What did he mean by that? _

Mathias, knowing he had won, smiled again and bowed his head. "Well then, have fun. Come on Hawking, we have better things to do than watch the two lovebirds go at it."

Janelle was going to retort something to the departing echidna, but Spectre clamped his hand over her mouth before she could say a word. When she glared at the black echidna, he only gestured toward Mathias' staff. Janelle's eyes widened when she caught sight of the fresh blood coating the tip of the wooden item.

Spectre waited until the most hated echidnas in Haven were out of his sight before he took his hand away from Janelle's mouth. She immediately grasped his hand and began running to where Mathias and Hawking had been coming from. "Quick, Grandfather! Whoever they hurt must still be there!"

Spectre did his best to keep up with her, and almost tripped on his black robes in the process. Instinct took over and Janelle headed for the conference room, and Spectre almost crashed into her when she stopped the second she set foot in the room.

"Sabre!" she cried out before she took off running, letting go of Spectre's hand.

The dark echidna finally caught sight of his fifth-son, lying on his back in a puddle of blood. Janelle fell to her knees beside Sabre and took his head in her hands. "Sabre! What happened? Say something, Sabre, anything! Come on!" She somehow relaxed when her grandson grunted and opened his good eye halfway. He began to curl up, thinking it was Mathias coming back to torment him somemore, but Janelle caressed his bleeding forehead. "Ssh, don't move, Sabre. We are going to take care of you, baby, don't worry."

The brown echidna seemed to understand because he remained still as Spectre approached. Janelle put Sabre's head in her lap and she looked up at her black-furred grandfather. "Could you pick him up?"

Spectre did a double take, but he couldn't possibly refuse. He bent down and carefully put his arms under Sabre's legs and arms, slowly lifting the younger one up. Sabre groaned in pain, but otherwise didn't struggle as his grandfather and grandmother led him to the infirmary.

* * *

"Those bastards!" Janelle hissed for the umpteeth time as she carefully undressed Sabre, who was half leaning against Thunderhawk, half being carried by him. Once the young echidna was unclothed, his fourth-father slowly lay him out on his stomach on one of the beds of the infirmary. Sabre gave off a pain-filled moan. "Sorry, Sabre, but you have to be on your stomach, at least until I get those shards out of your back and clean your wounds," Janelle soothingly said.

Sabre nodded and did his best to breathe normally with his abused and now crushed lungs. When his grandmother drew the first shard out, he gritted his teeth and steeled himself against pain.

Thunderhawk watched as Janelle patiently and carefully pulled the tiny shards of glass one by one and put them in a small metallic tray, where they landed with a clanking sound. "What happened this time, anyway?" the lavender echidna grumbled, looking septically as more blood poured down Sabre's back.

"I really don't know," Janelle sighed. "He was in the conference room, just lying there, this is how I found him. Maybe it has something to do with Locke." The pink-furred echidna frowned and focused on her work, and Thunderhawk felt he shouldn't distract her.

It took Janelle a few agonizing minutes to get all the shards out, and a few more to clean the wounds, bumps and bruises Sabre's body was sporting. "What about you, Second-father?" she asked when she was done bandaging Sabre's back.

"What about me?" Thunderhawk said, raising one eyebrow.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," he answered right when she was done asking, a bit too quickly.

"Really? Let me see then." Janelle gently pushed on Sabre's shoulder to make him roll onto his side, where he was able to breathe normally without hurting his back. She then approached Thunderhawk, and before the elder male could protest she took his chin in her hands and turned his head, exposing his neck. Frowning, she traced a finger along the dark and swollen angry freshly closed wound there, making Thunderhawk flinch. "Fine, uh?"

"This is nothing," he said anyway, albeit doing nothing to escape his graddaughter's gentle touch. With the way they lived, it was a wonder Janelle managed to be soft and gentle with everyone, even her grumpy second-father. "It will fade eventually."

"You will have a scar," Janelle corrected.

The look of concern on his second-daughter's face disturbed Thunderhawk, so he forced a small smile. "Well, I wasn't good-looking to begin with, no problem there," he lamely joked.

His words, however, had the desired effect. Janelle smiled a little and let go of her grandfather, gently swatting his cheek. "Are you kidding? You are so handsome that if it wasn't for the fact you're family and forty years older than me, I would be all over you," she said.

"Makes me glad I am, then," Thunderhawk grinned when Janelle nudged him.

Their weak laughter quickly died down, as it always did here at Haven. They resumed watching over Sabre in silence, side by side, silently praying there wouldn't be any other victim that day.

* * *

Locke was sitting on the ground, against a tree, absently running his hand over blades of grass as he fidgeted with a stick with the other. He was quietly observing clouds and swaying leaves as he waited for Lara to arrive.

Lara. It had only been three weeks, almost four, since the day they met by a heavy and vicious double door, but they had quickly become close friends. Locke realized it was the first time he really trusted someone and opened up; he wondered if Lara was the right one to be with. At once he thought his father would really like her too, and wondered what it would be like to live with her.

_What are you thinking about? _he shook himself. _You two are friends, you've only known her for three weeks! You can't already have fallen in love with her... can you? _Locke wondered if he was really falling in love with Lara, or if he was only desperate and she was the first female to be this close to him. _I'm losing it. _

He plucked a blade of grass up and put it between his teeth, slightly munching. _Lara should be there any minute now. _He was curious to see if she passed her test, the one he had been working hard on with her. At first, he was tempted to believe her when she was saying her case was hopeless; his female friend couldn't solve an equation to save her life! Locke gathered all the patience he had and spent hours teaching her, and step by step they had reached a decent amount of knowledge. Now he would see if she had been able to use this knowledge for her test.

Locke jumped when a pair of hands clamped over his eyes, and the blade of grass fell off. He immediately relaxed when his "attacker" laughed and he recognized Lara's cheerful voice. "Who is it?" he heard.

"Let me guess; probably some crazy schoolgirl who doesn't understand a thing about chemistry."

Lara sat down beside him, pouting. "Me? What about you, mister _I-hate-philosophy_?" she said as she poked his shoulder.

"All right, all right, square," Locke smiled. "So, did your test go well?"

Lara's face lit up when he said that. "I got the best mark I've ever had in chemistry!" she exclaimed. "You're my life-saver!"

Before Locke could open his mouth, Lara threw her arms around his neck and sent him toppling backward on the ground while she fell on top of him. Then she kissed him.

It wasn't a real kiss – but then Locke had never been kissed before – but he could tell it was more than a short and meaningless peck on the lips. When Lara drew back, they just lay there unmoving and staring at each other for the longest time.

Lara blushed. "Sorry," she stammered as she sat back, but Locke sat up as well and gently took her chin in his hand before bringing her lips back onto his. His kiss was awkward but it was gentle and heartfelt and it was all Lara was asking for.

When they partde again, the brown-furred female was blushing even more, and even Locke's cheeks held a tinge of pink. No words were needed nor uttered as he held her to his chest, where she comfortably nestled her head and closed her eyes. Locke didn't know why he had to ask. "Will you go on a picnic with me next week-end?" he whispered in her ear.

"Is that a date?" Lara smiled.

"Only if you want it to be." She felt Locke squeeze her hand. She knew he meant to ask her if she wanted them to be together, as a couple, so she gave his hand a squeeze back.

"In that case, I'd love to go on a picnic with you, Locke."

* * *

Locke stepped in his room with a dreamy smile plastered on his face. He let his bag fall at the end of the bed and lay on his back on the mattress, staring at the ceiling. He didn't know if that was the whole soul-touch thing working, but he really felt good right now. Lara, beautiful Lara plagued his every thought, and he cursed those who had built girls and boys dorms so far apart in the campus. He couldn't stand the thought of being far from her, and he suddenly wanted to see her again.

Locke was seriously considering going to her dorm when there was a buzzing sound. The red-furred young echidna looked over at the videophone that sat on his desk, annoyed. Who would possibly call him at such an hour? _Let's answer this question quickly, _Locke thought as he got up and walked over to the machine and pressed the green button he had labelled "Answer".

Immediately Thunderhawk's upper body came on screen, and Locke sighed. "No, I _swear _I'm not doing anything wrong, I'm studying as you wanted me to, and I-"

"Shut it, boy," Thunderhawk growled, exasperated. "I don't have much time, Sojourner won't hold them much longer. Listen to me."

Locke frowned. Was he seeing things, or his fifth-father actually looked worried? "What do you mean, he won't _hold _them?"

"Just listen!" Thunderhawk hissed, doing his best to keep his voice down. "Mathias and Hawking are fed up with you being still single and no next Guardian on the way. Your father should be the one telling you this but he is in no shape to do so."

Locke's head perked up. "What? What do you mean? What happened to Father?" he asked, panic edging in his voice.

"Won't you ever shut up! Listen, you have until your birthday to find a mate and come back to Haven; if by then you are still alone, consider yourself dead. What little patience Mathias has is wearing off, so hurry up. Contact Haven as soon as you find someone, even at night, hell, even pretend you have a mate. As long as Mathias doesn't get furious." Locke couldn't believe his ears; his strong and grumpy grandfather actually sounded... frightened.

_Until my birthday? But that makes four weeks... _He wanted to protest, but something about his fifth-father's concerned look was disturbing him. "What's going on in Haven, Grandfather?" he instead asked. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, everything is all right but the people living there," Thunderhawk growled. His head turned, probably toward the door to see if anyone was coming through, and Locke caught sight of a fresh scar on his grandfather's throat, that was stretching from jaw to collarbone. "You have no idea how bad life here got after Rembrandt's death, Locke," Thunderhawk pursued as his eyes once again turned to the screen. "Mathias and Hawking are making this place looks like Hell itself, and I sure hope they'll burn in the real one. When you find someone, you better settle down in Echidnaopolis, far from Haven, and come back when they are dead."

"Speaking of that, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Locke asked.

"We would have, but Mathias is always eyeing us when we are on surveillance duty, and Hawking almost always records communications, just to make sure we don't try anything. That's why we, Sojourner and I, took a risk today. My son should actually be in the storage room with Mathias and Hawking, trying to fix a power cut I generated. But knowinh Hawking, he fixed it the minute he was in the room."

Locke nodded. "All right, Grandfather. I may already have someone in mind."

Thunderhawk allowed a small smile to cross his lips. "Really? That would be great. As soon as you are sure, contact us."

"Will do, Fifth-father. Now, what happened to my father?"

"Well, from what I know-" There was a banging sound; Thunderhawk jumped and turned around. Locke figured out the door of the surveillance room opened brutally, and from Thunderhawk's panicked look this wasn't good news. "Well, Fifth-son, it was nice talking to you! Call me again some time, okay?"

"Grandfather?" Locke called, confused. Thunderhawk's drastic change of attitude certainly wasn't normal.

"Goodbye, and good luck with your work." Before Locke could reply the screen became blank, and he guessed Thunderhawk had shut his computer off. _All right, I believe him now. Something is really wrong. _

* * *

Thunderhawk barely had time to shut the computer off before Mathias was in front of him. His elder's face was expressionless, but the lavender echidna knew it would soon burst out. Worriedly, Thunderhawk saw Hawking wheeling himself in the surveillance room, and behind him, Sojourner was standing in the doorframe. The red-furred echidna looked helplessly at his father, his hands making a sorry-I-couldn't-do-more motion.

Thunderhawk swallowed hard, wincing when his scarred flesh brushed against the collar his tunics, as he waited for his ancestor to say something. He felt like a condemned person waiting for the executioner to cut his head off.

"Who were you talking to?" Mathias asked in a surprisingly casual voice.

Thunderhawk blinked; hasn't he heard? "Well, I was talking to Locke," he answered carefully, his eyes never leaving Mathias' face.

"And what, pray tell, were you two talking about?"

Thunderhawk saw Hawking grin, and at once he knew he wouldn't leave the room unharmed. He quickly remembered the lie he had made up in case he was caught. "Well, Locke called Haven to have news, and I happened to be on surveillance duty then."

"Oh really? You know, Fourth-son, you have a big flaw. You never, ever clear codes and frequencies after you tip them in," Mathias said, his hand on the console. Thunderhawk's eyes slowly trailed to the frequency pad near the keyboard, and his fist clenched when he realized with horror there still was a number there. The University's frequency. _Son of... _

From the corner of his eye, Thunderhawk saw Sojourner slapping himself as he realized they had lost. He couldn't blame his son; he would too be kicking himself if he wasn't afraid that would annoy Mathias. And he really didn't need that now.

"Sojourner," Mathias quietly called out, and said echidna stiffened. "Leave us, please. Close the door, grandson."

Sojourner hesitated, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Should he obey and let his father deal with it alone, or should he support him? Thunderhawk then glared at him. He knew that glare well, it meant: "Get the hell out of here." Sojourner swallowed and quietly nodded, taking his time to close the door. He tried to walk away, but had only made it to the end of the hall before he leaned against the wall and slid to the ground, tears flowing down his cheeks.

Meanwhile, Thunderhawk was warily watching his two elders. His eyes flew over to Mathias when the brown-furred echidna spoke up. "I have a feeling I know exactly what you two talked about," he said.

"R-Really?" Thunderhawk asked, hoping his voice was firm as he wanted it to be.

"Yes, really. Anyway, my son has your discussion on tape, I'll check to see if I'm wrong." Hawking grinned.

_I'm toast, _Thunderhawk inwardly winced. _Better buy time while I can. _"He said he has someone in mind, and this seems serious," he quickly said.

"Ah, so you were lying to me, minutes ago?" Mathias smirked.

Thunderhawk felt he was better off not saying anything more, seeing as he only managed to get into more trouble, but anyway was unable to answer as he was thrown full force against the wall by Mathias' telekinetic powers. He gritted his teeth to keep a cry of pain from coming out, and simply hoped his wound hadn't re-opened. He could feel Chaos energy pressing him against the wall.

"I don't take people lying to me well," Mathias mused, absentely stroking his staff. "Now, I could very well go and play the tape to know what you told Locke, but it would be more fun to hear it from your mouth. So?"

Thunderhawk really didn't know what came over him right then. "Then why don't you just go listen to the damned tape and leave me alone?" he snarled angrily.

"Temper, grandson. It's never healthy." Mathias turned to Hawking, who had wheeled himself next to his father. "Son, such a mechanic as you are has to keep some tools around, right? Could you lend me some?"

"Why, of course, Father," Hawking answered with a siwk grin, and it took Thunderhawk every ounce of will to not gag. He watched uneasily as Hawking retrieved a small pouch from somewhere behind his wheelchair and opened it before handing it over to his father. "Here."

Mathias fumbled around in the pouch before retrieving what he had been searching for. "Thanks, Hawking." Thunderhawk widened his eyes when the tool came into his sight, and he recognized it as an old metallic cutter. He tried to prevent his body from trembling as Mathias approached, pushing the razor sharp blade out of its resting place. "Now, grandson, what were you saying?"

"You bastards," Thunderhawk growled before he thought.

"Think again." The lavender echidna yelped when the blade entered one of his spines. He wanted to trash around but was forced to remain still as the cutter twisted in his flesh. There was a sickening crack, and Thunderhawk howled in pain; before he knew it, one of his barbs was on the floor, and Hawking was chuckling. "Amazing. There actually is bone in those."

Mathias took a step back, still holding the now blood-covered blade. "I like it much better. I never liked those barbs anyway, let's cut them all off." Thunderhawk shuddered, and Mathias grinned. "I'm afraid they won't grow back."

Although Thunderhawk knew what was coming for him, he still yelled out when the blade pierced his flesh once again. Mathias made agonizingly slow motions, taking his sweet time, and before long a second barb fell onto the floor. And a third. A fourth. A tenth.

By now, Thunderhawk's entire face was bloody, and his throat was sore from screaming. He could taste blood, his blood, in his mouth. His eyes were glued to the ground, where there was blood, drenching bits of bone and flesh. And Mathias was still going; he was moving to the last spine now. "I'm sure your father will like your new haircut," Mathias mused as the blade went through flesh again.

Thunderhawk had no more strenght to scream or struggle; he clenched his fists and steeled himself against pain while more barbs fell to the ground. Within minutes Mathias was done, and before Thunderhawk could breathe he released his mental hold on him. The lavender echidna crashed on the floor, amongst his own cut-off flesh and blood. He shakily lifted his head from the puddle of dark crimson liquid he had landed in in time to see Mathias heading toward the door, followed by Hawking.

"Let's see how much time he's going to stay here until they find him," he chuckled.

As the door closed, Thunderhawk just lied on his stomach there in the dark, panting, blood slowly dripping down his bearded chin from his abused spines. He didn't have the strenght to get up, or to call for help, hell, he couldn't even crawl away from the bloody mess he was lying on.

Before he could think of something to do, darkness took him and his head fell back in the pool of blood.

* * *

"So, basically, you are asking me if I'd like to meet your family?" Lara-Le said, a bit confused.

Locke sighed. "Well, it's not that simple, I would like to introduce you to my father, and some of my grandfathers. But there are some of them who doesn't care, you know, I told you about the whole tradition thing." When Lara nodded, he carried on. "Some of them want to see _you, _but some of them want to see if you are... worthy." Locke immediately hated the word; it made Lara sounds like she was an object.

"Worthy? Of what?"

"That's the whole damn point, actually," Locke sighed as he sat on his bed next to Lara. "They always have to be monitoring everything, so they don't feel like they're losing control over things like my life."

"From what I hear, it's not fun being a Guardian after all," Lara said softly, her hand coming up to rest on Locke's shoulder.

"It can be fun," the red-furred echidna told her as he scooted closed, sitting cross-legged next to his girlfriend. "I remember when my eleventh-father, Rembrandt, was still alive-"

"Eleventh-father? Just how long do you guys live!" Lara laughed.

"Well, when Rembrandt died, he was over two centuries old," Locke said after a quick mental count. "I liked him. He was the weirdest of us all. Spiky blond hair, big glasses, strange clothes. He was always telling weird stories or fooling around with Athair, my second-father."

Lara smiled and leaned against Locke, putting her head in the curve of his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. "Locke," she called out softly. "Tell me more about your family."

"What do you want to know?" he smiled, scooting to the head of the bed where he leaned on the wall, still holding Lara to him.

"Everything. I'm going to meet them soon, am I not?"

"And you're going to love them," Locke chuckled. "They can be very funny characters, whenever they are not trying to control my every move. Thunderhawk and Sojourner often fight, they are the exact meaning of the expression 'tough father-son love', and my father, Sabre, often has to play peacemaker with them. I think he is the sane one of the bunch. Well, my sixth-father Spectre is sane as well, but he is... special. He isn't very talkative, he is more of a loner and nobody can really guess what's going on under that helmet of his."

"Helmet?" Lara asked, looking up at her boyfriend.

Locke nodded. "As far as I can remember, he wore that helmet. And those dark robes too. I think he wants to create a dark image of himself, you know, to intimidate people. But there's a brave heart under those dark robes and that black fur, I know."

"I'll take your word for this. Others?"

"Well, you certainly won't be able to hate Athair. His heart must be twice the size of Angel Island," Locke grinned fondly. "His mother, Janelle-Li, is just as sweet and I'm sure you'll like her. Then there is Mathias, and Hawking." Locke didn't feel like dwelling on them.

"I can't wait," she said as she nestled her head under Locke's chin, and the Guardian smiled as he gently caressed her back.

He was sure Sabre would like Lara, and didn't give a damn about Hawking and Mathias if they didn't. Surely, Thunderhawk was over-doing it, they couldn't be so terrible.


End file.
